The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1887-04-14
HISTORIC HOLLYWOOD.
Sketch of a Visit to the Old Scotch Pal
ace.-oueen Mary's Room.

1t was a chill, drizzly day. 1t did
not positively rain, but came so near to
it that it might well be described as
Scotch mist. | sat at the window of
my hotel, overlooking Princes street,
Edinburgh. There were few pedestri-
ans in sight, and this, taken with the
state of the weather, brought me near
er to sleep than to any thought of the
business that had brought me to the
city. After awhile | resolved to shake
OFF my lethargy, and devote the after
| noon to seeing the lions in spite of
wind or weather Full of my-new res
olution | descended to the entrance,
hailed cab, and signified to Jehu that
wanted to go TO HolyroOd.
A short drive through quaint old
fashioned thoroughfares and | was set
down in front of the palace and was
left to my own resources; indeed, | was
left very much to myself, for, with the
exception of two sleepy-looking sentries
pacing back and forth, | could see no
living thing. 1t was not gala day in
the heart of Midlothian, atmosphericaI-
ly or otherwise, and | was rather
pleased, for in that case | was not like
ly to be troubled with a crowd of com
panion sight-seers. | took look
| around me. There on my right hand
stood Arthur's seat and the crags, like
| two glim monsters with their heads in
the clouds. Altogether the scene was
not inviting; so | made my way to The
arched entrance of the abbey through
which many royal cortege had passed
in the days of old. After a few prelim-
inaries and scarcely perceptibIe dis
! play Of red tape L was admitted, and
made my way as soon as possible to
| Queen Mary's rooms. Understand,
Queen Mary was my particular divini-
! ty, or rather had been when | was a
I boy,and perhaps no man lives who does
not carry with him portion of his boy
| heart, even into the center of his man
| hood. AS it happened, or as tho wealth
er willed it, there We're but two visitors
besides myself; so | thought | was in
| luck.
In spite of the watchful eyes of my
! guide, into whose hand | slipped a
| good sized ''image and superscription," $"
/ contrived frequently to linger a mo-
l-ent or two behind the party and thus
enjoy the luxury of dream or two
alone. | saw the little supper-room
where, on that February night long ago,
poor Rizzio had been murdered by
/ Darnley, Ruthven, and others. Istood
long and gazed upon the stains of
| blood which, of course, are not there,
and then | turned to look at the queen 5
work table and the little odds and ends
upon it. This was my delight and /
( could not keep my eyes from il. had
/ turned to leave the apartment and fol-
| low my guide and the two other visit
! Ors, when a most singular circumstance
| occurred, for which, of course, YOU Will
! have to take my word.
From feeling not to be described by
the pen | somehow became aware that
| / was not alone in the room although |
! knew perfectly that all doors were lock-
| ed behind Us, and that my party was
| some distance in advance. | felt that
no presence could ever be more real:
indeed, fairly looked back to see, and
was not disappointed. There, only a
few feet from where | stood, was a lady.
She leaned slightly over the little table,
upon which one of her hands rested.
Her outline was handsome in the ex-
/ treme, and | remember thinking that
/ my eyes had never gazed upon a form
of more perfect loveiiness. Her robe
seemed to he of crimson velvet, while
the upper part Of her dress, albeit of
quaint cut and pattern, was ablaze with
Jewels. 1t was the work of an instant
! tor me torecall pictures had seen and
| descriptions | had read, which. when
taken together, brought the conviction
that | stood in the presence of Mary,
Queen Of Scots, or rather the air drawn
semJlance Of that royal lady. | was
not startled. To me, at the time, there
did not seem to be anything strange
about the matter | simply stood and
looked into her magnificent eyes, which
were modestly lifted to mine. In few
seconds my mind ran over all the try
ing scenes of her life; indeed | seemed
to be taken out of myself, and waited
away back into the stirring times when
the Lords of the Covenant stood every
man with his sword drawn, and the hap
less Mary was the sport of circumstan-
ces, BY and by | came to what had al
ways seemed to be curious part of her
history, her escapade with Boutwell,,
and once again | mentally formulated
the question, Is it possible that so
much beauty could ever find anything
to love in that scape@race lord?' | ask
myself the question, but Judge of my
amazement, when the figure answered
it. The lips moved; No" it said, ..he
never owned my love; but think, my
subjects were III open rebellion; my hus-
band had been a brute when he ought
to have been my protector; was a wo-
man IN strange country, without
trusty friend in the whole wide world;
what could | do?" The infinite pathos
with which she uttered those words
brought a pang to my heart, and, /
must confess a tear to my eve. Invol-
unfairly | advanced toward her, eager
to express my sympathy, that sympathy
which clings around the heart of every
Scotsman for one who may have erred
much but whom the world treated not
well. As | moved the figure vanished
and | was alone.
Opportunely, to save me from max
ING fool of myself, my party returned
on their way out, and | joined them,
full of wonderful dreams and theories,
but silent as to my adventure. In de-
scending the stairway l was first, with
the janitor two steps behind. You will
believe l was surprised when that staid
old gentleman gave me a slap between
the shoulders, hard enough to make my
watch-chain rattle, and shouted: ..Hel-
10 SIMS; gone to sleep, eh?" Ny sur
prise was increased, rather than dimin-
ished, when l looked up and found that
it was not the old man at all, but my
young law partner, Russell, who had
come to the city on the same business
as myself, and having been shown up